Tag Archives: archetypes

Learn as You Go: How to Succeed in AP Lit

There’s a kitchen principle known as “clean as you go” that suggests that if you keep a sink full of hot, soapy water available as you’re cooking, then drop in your messy tools and bowls as you finish using them, the cleanup afterwards goes much faster. The same is true of learning. If you do a little as you go along, there’s much less effort right at the end, whether that means studying for test, writing a paper, or preparing for a seminar. Here are some “learn as you go” principles that will help you be a successful student in AP Lit.

Plan Your Reading – Senior year can become great practice for college. A heavy class load, lots of responsibilities, extra activities like college and scholarship applications, and the usual demands at home and work can really eat up your time. Plan your reading so you don’t get behind. Divide the number of pages you need to read by the number of days available, and read a little every day. It’s okay to schedule in breaks as long as you maintain your pace.

Take Note – In college, you’ll be able to mark up your books, since you’ll probably be buying your own copies. With plays and novels, you have two primary options: sticky notes or directly on your Six Pack Sheet. When you come across something in a book that makes you go “Hmm…” or “Aha!” or “I wonder…”, that’s something to note. Poetry notations will go directly into your journal.

Once Is Not Enough – You always notice new details when you watch a movie for a second time. Why should reading be any different? Rereading is okay. In fact, it’s encouraged! If you’ve read one of our class selections before, don’t decide you can skip it this time. You’ll gain more from the rereading and probably make some insights you missed the first time.

Connect – Read everything with a question mark in your head. How does this sound familiar? Why does this image keep recurring, and what could it mean? Where have I seen characters like these before, and what happened to them? What were people like during this period of history, or how did this event change people’s lives? Connection is the way human brains make ideas stick. The more you connect what you read with something you already know, the more you’ll be able to recall and analyze later. 

Check the Website – When in doubt, check this website. Background information on the author or the context of the book can sometimes be a key that unlocks an idea in a play or novel.

Keep thoughts thoughts bubbling. Happy reading!

 

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Fine-Tuning the LOTF Essay

http://www.customessayhelp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/revising-a-paper.jpg

As you complete your revisions for your Lord of the Flies archetype essay, please consider the following:

DO: Include Golding’s full name and the name of the work in the first paragraph.

DON’T: Refer to Golding as “William” unless he’s your uncle or regularly comes to your house for dinner.

DO: Include a strong thesis in your first paragraph. It should be obvious which character, archetypal role, and theme/MOWAW you have chosen to explore.

DON’T: Summarize!

DO: Integrate appropriate quotations or examples into the essay to illustrate your points. For example, let’s say you wish to include the following quotation from Ralph on p. 54: “I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!”

AWKWARD:

“I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” (54) This is what Ralph says when…

Don’t plop quotations in and expect the reader to connect the dots for you.

BETTER:

Ralph’s frustration with Jack’s focus on hunting boils over when he yells, “I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” (54)

Reveal your thinking about why you chose the quotation or example and how it connects to what you’re developing in the writing.

Anything quoted directly from the book, whether dialogue or description, needs to be cited with a page number.

DO: Include the bibliographic citation for the work at the bottom of your last page:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 1954.

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Filed under AP Literature

Lord of the Flies Final Writing

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Now that we have completed our reading of Lord of the Flies, you will be submitting an analytical essay as your final assessment in lieu of an AP-style prompt. The objective is to reveal your knowledge of how Golding uses archetypes within Lord of the Flies to support the larger theme of the work.

In your essay, you will select a focus character from the following and identify his primary archetypal role in the work:

Ralph
Piggy
Jack
Simon
Roger

A good explanation of archetypal roles may be found here or in this Archetypes and Symbols handout. You may also refer to the Archetype_PowerPoint we referenced in class or consult the handouts on archetypes available on the AP Resources page to provide additional background and clarification.

Your essay should show, using appropriate directly quoted or paraphrased support from the novel, how your selected character develops to fulfill his designated archetypal role within the novel and how that role contributes to the work’s overall theme. You may also include references to other archetypal or symbolic information, such as the use of color, shape, etc. as you build your argument. Direct quotations from Golding should be cited according to MLA guidelines.

Archetypal themes to consider—remember that themes must be stated in a phrase, not as a single word!

Hero (good overcoming evil)
Obstacle (struggle with self, struggle with nature)
Quest
Death and Rebirth
Initiation (coming of age, loss of innocence)
Outcast (alienation, isolation, acceptance of atypical)
Your essay of no more than 750 words (three double-spaced pages) should be submitted to Edmodo by the end of the day Thursday, October 22. You will upload your essay to the posted assignment in .pdf format. Other formats do not permit me to make annotations for your review. See me if you have submission issues. Do this ahead of time so you don’t run into problems on the due date.

 

Good luck, and happy writing!

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Filed under AP Literature

Fine-Tuning the LOTF Essay

http://www.customessayhelp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/revising-a-paper.jpg

As you complete your revisions for your Lord of the Flies archetype essay, please consider the following:

DO: Include Golding’s full name and the name of the work in the first paragraph.

DON’T: Refer to Golding as “William” unless he’s your uncle or regularly comes to your house for dinner.

DO: Include a strong thesis in your first paragraph. It should be obvious which character and archetypal role you have chosen to explore.

DON’T: Summarize!

DO: Integrate appropriate quotations or examples into the essay to illustrate your points. For example, let’s say you wish to include the following quotation from Ralph on p. 54: “I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!”

AWKWARD:

“I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” (54) This is what Ralph says when…

Don’t plop quotations in and expect the reader to connect the dots for you.

BETTER:

Ralph’s frustration with Jack’s focus on hunting boils over when he yells, “I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” (54)

Reveal your thinking about why you chose the quotation or example and how it connects to what you’re developing in the writing.

Anything quoted directly from the book, whether dialogue or description, needs to be cited with a page number.

DO: Include the bibliographic citation for the work at the bottom of the second page:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 1954.

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Filed under Honors IV